DePaul University Athletics
Volleyball Travels to Houston for C-USA Tournament
11/14/2001 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
In C-USA Tournament
This is the seventh annual Conference USA tournament. DePaul is making its seventh consecutive trip to the tournament.
Year-by-Year Results
1995 at Louisville, Ky. (0-1)
L vs. Memphis, 0-3
1996 at Louisville, Ky. (0-1)
L vs. Tulane, 2-3
1997 at Houston, Texas (0-1)
L vs. Southern Miss, 2-3
1998 at Cincinnati, Ohio (0-1)
L vs. Memphis, 1-3
1999 at Tampa, Fla. (1-1 - Semifinals)
W vs. UAB, 3-1
L vs. Cincinnati, 2-3
2000 at Charlotte, N.C. (1-1)
W vs. UAB, 3-0
L vs. Houston, 0-3
Record Breakers
Senior Kara Jakusz became C-USA's all-time leader in assists against Marquette. Senior Stephanie Bishop set the conference record for career digs against Illinois State and broke the career record for kills against Tulane.
NCAA Leaders
The Blue Demons rank seventh nationally (as of Oct. 28) in team assists (15.49), tied for 13th in team kills (16.90) and 20th in team digs (17.96). Jakusz ranks 12th nationally with a 13.29 apg average.
Leading C-USA
DePaul leads the conference in kills (16.76), assists (15.41) and digs (17.62) per game.
Balanced Success
Jakusz leads the conference with 1,413 assists and a 13.72 apg average. Bishop is fourth in the league averaging 3.50 digs per game and ranks eighth averaging 3.96 kills per game. With an average of 1.18 blocks per game, sophomore Lara Marks is third in the league. Marks also ranks tenth with a .299 hitting percentage. Senior Christa Dirr ranks fifth in the league with a .324 hitting percentage and senior Melissa Nordine is sixth averaging 3.28 digs per game.
Regional Rankings
The Blue Demons rank fifth in the Oct. 31 Midwest Volleyball Regional Rankings. Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida and Wright State rank ahead of DePaul.
Player of the Week
Bishop was named Conference USA Player of the Week for the period ending Sept. 3 and C-USA co-player of the week for the period ending Oct. 21.
Tournament Titles
The Blue Demons captured the Northern Illinois Invitational defeating Creighton, Texas-San Antonio and host Northern Illinois. DePaul also won the UW-Milwaukke Invitational downing Drake, Southeast Missouri State and UW-Milwaukee in the championship game.
All-Tournament
Bishop was named MVP of the Northern Illinois Invitational while Junior Katie Engel was selected to the all-tournament team. Marks was named MVP of the UW-Milwaukee Invitational with Nordine and Jakusz making the all-tournament team.
Streaking Blue Demons
DePaul's 9-0 start was the best in school history. The previous best start was a 6-0 run to open the 1990 season. The Blue Demons nine-match winnging streak was the longest since 1991, when DePaul won 11 consecutive matches.
Dawn Dockstader
The DePaul volleyball coach is in her fifth season at the helm of the Blue Demons and owns a 79-76 record. Under Dockstader the Blue Demons have posted three consecutive 20-win seasons for only the second time in the program's history.
Senior Stats
Below is a brief listing of the accomplishments of the senior class during the past four seasons.
- The Blue Demons are 72-53 overall and 37-24 in Conference USA.
- DePaul won the 2001 Northern Illinois Invitational, 2001 UW-Milwaukee Invitational, 2000 Butler Invitational and 2000 Blue Demon Invitational.
- 2001 Blue Demons won their first nine matches, the best start in school history and longest winning streak since 1999 (nine matches).
- 5-0 start in 2001 Conference USA play best conference start in program's history.
- Demons went undefeated against UAB (6-0), Valparaiso (4-0), UW-Green Bay (4-0), Tulane (3-0).
- The Blue Demons won 20 matches in 2001, marking the first time in a decade the program posted back-to-back-to-back 20-win seasons. It also marks the ninth time a Blue Demons team has won 20 matches in the program's history.
- DePaul has won 32 conference matches over the last three seasons, the most in any three-year period in the program's history.
- DePaul won 20 matches in 1999, the most in six years and for only the eighth time in the history of the program.
- The Blue Demons recorded 11 C-USA victories in 1999 and 2001, the most conference wins in the program's history.
- In 1999 DePaul reached the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament for the first time ever.
